No Impact Man: The Book

No Impact Man: The Movie

Site Credits

July 28, 2010

The Senate decides to do nothing about climate change... and what you can do

I am so frustrated to have to say that the Senate leadership has decided not to bring a bill to the floor to do something about climate change this session. Here is what my friend Gillian Caldwell from 1Sky has to say on the subject, and I agree with her down the line:

I am furious and frustrated.

We're sweltering here in Washington DC -- living on a planet that just survived the hottest six months in recorded history -- and yet last week the Senate announced it plans to do absolutely nothing for the foreseeable future about our climate crisis.

Big Oil, Dirty Coal and their allies in Congress have succeeded once again in blocking bold climate action. As a result, they will continue to reap record profits at the expense of our health, safety and economic security.

It's time to show Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, our senators and President Obama the full extent of our outrage at their failure to take on the greatest crisis of our time.

They've failed to do their job on climate -- and you won't take 'no' for an answer; You'll hold them accountable for their lack of action.

This call isn't about wonky policy details: it's about expressing our collective outrage at the Senate's failure to do anything about our devastating climate crisis and the Obama Administration's failure to push harder for a comprehensive climate bill. They need to know there will be consequences for them.

The Senate does plan to pass a bill next week in response to the BP oil spill, but make no mistake: this is not a climate bill. And it will not address the root cause of that tragedy: our addiction to dirty energy...

I also think it's important to know where each of our Senators stand on climate and whether they contributed to demise of the climate bill or tried to help it stay alive. Here is a breakdown supplied to me by a policy analyst friend. These are the people who can be held directly responsible for stopping the United States from taking a world leadership role on climate:

Senators who were die-hard opposed to climate bill

Lamar Alexander (R, TN)

John Barrasso (R, WY)

Robert F Bennett (R, UT)

Christopher S. Bond (R, MO)

Sam Brownback (R, KS)

Jim Bunning (R, KY)

Richard Burr ( R, NC)

Saxby Chambliss (R, GA)

Tom Coburn (R, OK)

Thad Cochran (R, MS)

Bob Corker (R, TN)

John Cornyn (R, TX)

Mike Crapo (R, ID)

Jim DeMint (R, SC)

John Ensign (R, NV)

Michael B Enzi (R, WY)

Chuck Grassley (R, IA)

Orrin G Hatch (R, UT)

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R, TX)

James M Inhofe (R, OK)

Johnny Isakson (R, GA)

Mike Johanns (R, NE)

Jon Kyl (R, AZ)

John McCain (R, AZ)

Mitch McConnell (R, KY)

James E Risch (R, ID)

Pat Roberts (R, KS)

Jeff Sessions (R, AL)

Richard C Shelby (R, AL)

John Thune (R, SD)

David Vitter (R, LA)

Roger F Wicker (R, MS)

Senators who spoke out publicly against, but weren't
die-hard opposition

Evan Bayh (D, IN)

Scott P Brown (R, MA)

Carte Goodwin (D, WV)

Judd Gregg (R, NH)

Blanche Lincoln (D, AR)

Richard G Lugar (R, IN)

Ben Nelson (D, NE)

Lisa Murkowski (R, AK)

John D Rockefeller (D, WV)

George V Voinovich (R, OH)

Jim Webb (D, VA)

Swings (senators lacking the courage to publicly declare support of the bill)

Susan M Collins (R, ME)

Kent Conrad (D, ND)

Byron L Dorgan (D, ND)

Lindsey Graham (R, SC)

Mary L Landrieu (D, LA)

Claire McCaskill (D, MO)

George S LeMieux (R, FL)

Mark L Pryor (D, AR)

Olympia J Snowe ( R, ME)

Everyone else, my friend believes, would have voted for the bill. If you don't find your senator in the above lists, you could call them and thank them.

Meanwhile, if you want to read more on the failure of the Obama administration to lead on this issue, Joe Romm at Climate Progress wrote a
hard-hitting piece entitled 'The Failed Presidency of Barack
Obama' in which
he said that"Fundamentally,
Rahm
and Axelrod simply don’t get global warming. They bought the
nonsensical argument based on bad polling analysis that there was
no good
way to talk about it . . ."

Colin Beavan (that's me!) is now leading a conversation about finding a happy, helpful life at Colinbeavan.com. If you want to know how people are breaking out and and finding authentic, meaningful lives that help our world, check it out the blog here and sign up to join the conversation here.

Comments

The Senate decides to do nothing about climate change... and what you can do

I am so frustrated to have to say that the Senate leadership has decided not to bring a bill to the floor to do something about climate change this session. Here is what my friend Gillian Caldwell from 1Sky has to say on the subject, and I agree with her down the line:

I am furious and frustrated.

We're sweltering here in Washington DC -- living on a planet that just survived the hottest six months in recorded history -- and yet last week the Senate announced it plans to do absolutely nothing for the foreseeable future about our climate crisis.

Big Oil, Dirty Coal and their allies in Congress have succeeded once again in blocking bold climate action. As a result, they will continue to reap record profits at the expense of our health, safety and economic security.

It's time to show Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, our senators and President Obama the full extent of our outrage at their failure to take on the greatest crisis of our time.

They've failed to do their job on climate -- and you won't take 'no' for an answer; You'll hold them accountable for their lack of action.

This call isn't about wonky policy details: it's about expressing our collective outrage at the Senate's failure to do anything about our devastating climate crisis and the Obama Administration's failure to push harder for a comprehensive climate bill. They need to know there will be consequences for them.

The Senate does plan to pass a bill next week in response to the BP oil spill, but make no mistake: this is not a climate bill. And it will not address the root cause of that tragedy: our addiction to dirty energy...

I also think it's important to know where each of our Senators stand on climate and whether they contributed to demise of the climate bill or tried to help it stay alive. Here is a breakdown supplied to me by a policy analyst friend. These are the people who can be held directly responsible for stopping the United States from taking a world leadership role on climate:

Senators who were die-hard opposed to climate bill

Lamar Alexander (R, TN)

John Barrasso (R, WY)

Robert F Bennett (R, UT)

Christopher S. Bond (R, MO)

Sam Brownback (R, KS)

Jim Bunning (R, KY)

Richard Burr ( R, NC)

Saxby Chambliss (R, GA)

Tom Coburn (R, OK)

Thad Cochran (R, MS)

Bob Corker (R, TN)

John Cornyn (R, TX)

Mike Crapo (R, ID)

Jim DeMint (R, SC)

John Ensign (R, NV)

Michael B Enzi (R, WY)

Chuck Grassley (R, IA)

Orrin G Hatch (R, UT)

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R, TX)

James M Inhofe (R, OK)

Johnny Isakson (R, GA)

Mike Johanns (R, NE)

Jon Kyl (R, AZ)

John McCain (R, AZ)

Mitch McConnell (R, KY)

James E Risch (R, ID)

Pat Roberts (R, KS)

Jeff Sessions (R, AL)

Richard C Shelby (R, AL)

John Thune (R, SD)

David Vitter (R, LA)

Roger F Wicker (R, MS)

Senators who spoke out publicly against, but weren't
die-hard opposition

Evan Bayh (D, IN)

Scott P Brown (R, MA)

Carte Goodwin (D, WV)

Judd Gregg (R, NH)

Blanche Lincoln (D, AR)

Richard G Lugar (R, IN)

Ben Nelson (D, NE)

Lisa Murkowski (R, AK)

John D Rockefeller (D, WV)

George V Voinovich (R, OH)

Jim Webb (D, VA)

Swings (senators lacking the courage to publicly declare support of the bill)

Susan M Collins (R, ME)

Kent Conrad (D, ND)

Byron L Dorgan (D, ND)

Lindsey Graham (R, SC)

Mary L Landrieu (D, LA)

Claire McCaskill (D, MO)

George S LeMieux (R, FL)

Mark L Pryor (D, AR)

Olympia J Snowe ( R, ME)

Everyone else, my friend believes, would have voted for the bill. If you don't find your senator in the above lists, you could call them and thank them.

Meanwhile, if you want to read more on the failure of the Obama administration to lead on this issue, Joe Romm at Climate Progress wrote a
hard-hitting piece entitled 'The Failed Presidency of Barack
Obama' in which
he said that"Fundamentally,
Rahm
and Axelrod simply don’t get global warming. They bought the
nonsensical argument based on bad polling analysis that there was
no good
way to talk about it . . ."